Appleton attorney David Dudas denied reduced bond, contact with children

Aug. 22, 2013

David G. Dudas (left) appears for a motion hearing with defense attorney Robert Bellin Jr. in Outagamie County court on Wednesday in Appleton. Dudas is accused of rape and assault on his wife. / Dan Powers/Post-Crescent Media

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APPLETON — The Appleton attorney charged with raping his wife and choking her multiple times was denied a reduced bond and contact with his children in Outagamie County court Wednesday.

David G. Dudas, 49, of Dale, was released Saturday after family members posted his $750,000 bond, but his defense attorney said the payment was causing hardship for Dudas’ father and other family.

Defense attorney Robert Bellin Jr. said the family was charged high interest rates and fees and agreed to make monthly payments in order to secure Dudas’ release from jail. Bellin asked that the bond be set to something “a little more reasonable,” but District Attorney Carrie Schneider objected.

“Within 24 hours, (the bond) was posted,” she said. “These hardships were all things they likely were aware of.”

County Commissioner Brian Figy agreed with Schneider, leaving the bond amount intact and firmly denying Dudas’ request to allow contact with his five children, who were all present during the July 21 incident that led to his arrest.

Bellin argued that Dudas should be allowed to at least call or email his two adult children or, ideally, have visitation rights with all five children.

“There are no allegations he did anything harmful to the children as far as making threats or any violence toward the children,” Bellin said. “He should at least be allowed some contact, certainly with the adult children. If they don’t want to talk to their father, they don’t have to. But just because they don’t want to talk to him isn’t a valid reason for a no-contact order.”

Schneider quickly pointed out the misdemeanor intimidation of a victim charge stem from worries expressed by two of his children to police. They said they were scared and felt their father was trying to stop them from calling 911 on July 21.

Figy said he weighed Dudas’ clean record and employment against the severity of the charges before opting to let the majority of the bond order stand.

“Quite frankly, these are the most horrific domestic violence allegations I’ve seen in my 13 years on the bench,” Figy said. “There are allegations of extreme violence and intimidation that have spanned months, if not years.”

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However, Figy did grant Dudas an opportunity to retrieve his belongings from the family’s residence while accompanied by law enforcement. He also said he would be in favor of electronic monitoring instead of the current order for Dudas to check in three times a week to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department.

Both parties had little to say after the hearing; while Schneider said she was glad the $750,000 bond was left standing, Bellin expressed his frustration with the 31 charges filed against his client.

“This is the most overcharged case I’ve ever seen,” Bellin said.

Dudas is facing up to 709 years of imprisonment on charges of first-degree sexual assault, 14 counts of second-degree sexual assault, 12 counts of strangulation and suffocation and one count each of second-degree reckless injury, substantial battery, misdemeanor intimidation of a victim and misdemeanor battery.

Prosecutors say the victim suffered months of escalating assaults from Dudas, some of which Dudas himself recorded on videos obtained by the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department. The videos show the victim being sexually assaulted, choked and smothered, and vomiting and spitting up because she couldn’t breathe.

As Dudas waived his right to a speedy trial, his preliminary hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 30. While defendants have a right to waive their preliminary hearing, the purpose of the hearing is for the state to provide probable cause for the case to proceed.